John Cabell Breckinridge

president war union united

Breckinridge, John Cabell (1821–75), congressman and vice-president of the United States, and major-general and secretary of war of the Confederate States of America. Breckinridge served as vice-president under James Buchanan 1857–61. During the 4-way race for president in 1860, Breckin-ridge was the candidate of the Southern Democrats on a pro-slavery, pro-Union platform, polling 18% of the popular vote. When Kentucky voted to remain in the Union, Breckinridge left his Senate seat, becoming brigadier-general and later, secretary of war for the Confederacy. When the South surrendered, he fled to Britain, but returned to the United States in 1868.

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